1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to devices for making artificial snow, in particular, to devices which use water and air to form and project snow over outdoor areas, such as ski slopes.
2. Background Information
For a number of years it has been the practice to employ equipment to deposit artificially made snow on outdoor surfaces, such as ski slopes, when nature does not provide the desired quantity of snow. A variety of mechanical devices have been employed. Generally, the approach is to take water droplets and convert them to frozen particles. Prior art devices typically break up a stream of water by means of pressure atomizing and or two-fluid (air-water) atomizing. Often fans are used to provide an airstream which entrains the droplets as they become frozen, and better to carry them through space and deposit them across a wide area.
There are various problems and limitations connected with prior art snow making devices. They include complexity, noise, reliability, weight, difficult maneuverability, low efficiency in covering a desired area, poor ability for making snow at comparatively warm temperatures, high initial cost, and high operating cost.